Aesop's Fables: Sir Roger L'Estrange (1692)
92. A MAN BIT BY A DOG (Perry 64)
One that was bitten by a Dog, was advised, as the best Remedy in the
World, to dip a piece of Bread in the Blood of the Wound, and give it
the Dog to eat. Pray hold your Hand a little (says the Man) unless you
have a mind to draw all the Dogs in the Town upon me; for that will certainly
be the end on’t, when they shall find themselves rewarded instead of punish’d.
THE MORAL. Good Nature is a great Misfortune where it is not manag’d
with Prudence. Christian Charity, ‘tis true, bids us return Good for Evil;
but it does not oblige us yet to reward where we should punish.
 L'Estrange originally published his version of the fables in 1692. There is a
very nice illustrated edition in the Children's Classics series by Knopf: Sir
Roger L'Estrange. Aesop
- Fables which is available at amazon.com.
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